Handley Page Hampden

what is it?

The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines but a variant known as the Handley Page Hereford had in-line Napier Daggers.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 21.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 397 km/htop speed
• size 10.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,430made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 90 years ago, in 1936.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 21.1 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1936-06-21

introduced

1938

retired

1943

status

retired

number built

1,430

role

medium bomber

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Handley Page, English Electric

engines

2× Bristol Pegasus XVIII

crew

4

length

16.3 m

wingspan

21.1 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

10.2 t

top speed

397 km/h

cruise speed

331 km/h

range

—

ceiling

5,791 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.